Linksys Hydra Pro 6E (AXE6600) review
Our Verdict
If yous're interested in getting the speed benefits of Wi-Fi 6e but can't have the high price of competing routers, the Linksys Hydra Pro 6E delivers a more economical (and lower performing) Wi-Fi 6e router.
For
- Mainstream WiFi 6e router
- Proficient speed boost over WiFi 6 devices
- Quick fix
- Includes aqueduct Finder and customization options
Against
- Not the fastest router effectually
- Limited range
Tom's Guide Verdict
If yous're interested in getting the speed benefits of Wi-Fi 6e but can't accept the high price of competing routers, the Linksys Hydra Pro 6E delivers a more economical (and lower performing) Wi-Fi 6e router.
Pros
- +
Mainstream WiFi 6e router
- +
Good speed boost over WiFi six devices
- +
Quick set up
- +
Includes aqueduct Finder and customization options
Cons
- -
Not the fastest router effectually
- -
Limited range
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E: Specs
Wi-Fi Spec: AXE6600
Number of Antennas/Removable: 4/No
Ports: i WAN/4 LAN gigabit per second, USB 3
Processor/Memory/Storage: Quad-core 1.8GHz/512MB/512MB
Wi-Fi bit: Qualcomm Networking Pro 810
Acme 802.11ac operation: 1.96Gbps (at xv anxiety)
Range: eighty anxiety
Size: 11.0 ten 6.vii x 2.4 inches
Estimated Almanac Electricity Cost: $eleven.80
Cost: $500
Seeking to make Wi-Fi 6e routers more than affordable and mainstream, the Linksys Hydra Pro 6E (aka MR7500) puts information technology all together but pales in terms of range and throughput next to the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500. Notwithstanding, it'south a great style to take advantage of the router's ability to movement data over the 2.4-, 5- and 6GHz bands, opening up new vistas of performance, and claiming a spot alongside the best Wi-Fi 6 routers. That is, if you have a computer or phone that tin take advantage of Wi-Fi 6E's 6GHz band, which remain few and far between.
It undercuts the RAXE500 by $100 on price and is not only smaller and easier to hide, but offers a slew of customization options that can let you lot brand the router fit your home and its users. In other words, it may not be the fastest or longest reaching router, but the Hydra 6E is Wi-Fi 6E for the rest of us.
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E review: Pricing and availability
The 2d Wi-Fi 6e router that we've seen, the Linksys Hydra Pro 6E (model number MR7500) seeks to balance extra performance with price, making it a high-functioning router that puts the emphasis on value. It has a listing price of $499 but tin be had for as footling equally $349. It's a bargain that easily undersells the Nighthawk RAXE500 router.
Information technology comes ready to create a powerful abode network with the Hydra 6E'southward Ac adapter, a True cat half-dozen cablevision and a Setup Guide bill of fare that's plenty to get going.
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E review: Design
The all blackness Linksys Hydra Pro 6E can blend in to just virtually any d̩cor and hide in plain sight on a bookcase or windowsill simply has soft rubber feet too as inserts for hanging on a wall. The router measures xi.0 x vi.7 10 2.4 inches Рnearly half the size of Netgear'southward iconic bat-winged Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 router. It's piece of cake to rotate the antennas only they raise the router's meridian by 4-inches.
The unabridged superlative of the case is riddled with vents so that yous can only about come across the router's components inside. While the Hydra 6E lacks the RAXE500's cooling fan it never got above 118 degrees Fahrenheit – 6 degrees warmer than the RAXE500's peak temperature.
As the start 2 Wi-Fi 6E routers, the RAXE500 and Hydra Pro 6E add together a 6GHz ring to the traditional 2.4- and 5GHz bands. The Hydra Pro 6E's triband design can more than double the router'southward data carrying capacity compared to a Wi-Fi vi (802.11AX) device with six extra 160MHz ultra-broad data channels at its disposal in the 6GHz band. Look for WiFi 6E mesh routers that employ a quad-ring design in the coming months just in that location are only a handful of devices available that can have full reward of the 6GHz transmissions.
Linksys engineers based the Hydra Pro 6E's pattern on Qualcomm's Networking Pro 810 chipset, not the more capable and expensive 1210 chipset. This was done for economy and shows up with lower overall performance. With a rated peak throughput of 6.6Gbps, the 2.iv-, 5- and 6-GHz bands are rated to motility 600, i,201, and 4,804 Mbps, respectively. Past contrast, the RAXE500 can handle a maximum of ten.8Gbps.
Nether the skin, the Hydro Pro 6E has a quad-core processor that runs at 1.8GHz and is stocked with 512MB of RAM as well as 512MB of flash to hold its firmware and settings. It checks all the boxes for an up-to-engagement router, including MU-MIMO, beamforming and 1024QAM operations. The router'southward eight individual data streams can service up to 55 devices and Linksys rates its coverage area as 2,700 foursquare anxiety.
The Hydra Pro 6E may be a mainstream router, but it has several high-performance tricks up its sleeve. Its 5Gbps WAN input port tin can assist gamers seeking to rule the universe and can run circles around the Nighthawk RAXE500'due south 2.5Gbps input – that is, if your broadband provider and hardware can support it. The router can also be used as office of a Velop mesh arrangement using Linksys' Intelligent Mesh software.
In that location are 4 downstream 1Gbps wired Ethernet ports, although none of them tin be aggregated for extra functioning. The Hydra 6E's USB iii.0 connector can make the contents of an external difficult drive bachelor on the network.
Forth the back is an on/off switch, the router's ability port and a recessed reset button while the router'due south side has a WPS push for tapping into the Wi-Fi Protected Setup to quickly add devices. Unlike other recent routers, the Hydra Pro 6E has a restrained appearance with a single LED bar that glows Blueish (when it's online), Purple (during setup) and Red (when offline).
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E review: Performance
The key to the Hydra Pro 6E'due south performance is its addition of the 6GHz band to the expected two.four- and 5GHz ones. To examination the router'due south performance I used Ixia'southward ixChariot'south network simulation software to create a decorated network that simulated x data-hungry users. The setup included a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro exam computer running Windows 11 to gauge its performance potential.
At a distance of 15-feet, information technology yielded one.064Gbps over the 6GHz band as well as 772.0Mbps and 122.7Mbps over the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands. That adds up to a total potential throughput of one.958Gbps, twenty percent off the RAXE500 (2.390Gbps), which was tested using a Samsung Galaxy S21 phone. Still, information technology tops the best Wi-Fi 6 routers, like the Netgear Nighthawk AX8 (i.389Gbps), Asus AX-RT86U (929.7Mbps) and the TP-Link Archer AX6000 (884.4Mbps).
With the iii bands consolidated into a unmarried network name and fifty-feet separating the Hydra Pro 6E from the exam organization, the router moved 120.4Mbps. That's behind the Netgear RAXE500 (215.8Mbps) as well equally several older routers, like TP-Link Archer AX6000's 396.4Mbps and the Netgear Nighthawk AX8's 277.1Mbps.
At 75-feet, the Hydra Pro 6E's available bandwidth dropped to 37.0Mbps, less than a quarter of the Netgear RAXE500 (148.6Mbps). The Hydra Pro 6E had a range of lxxx-anxiety, 30 percent lower than the Netgear RAXE500's 105-feet. It clearly worked meliorate at curt range than over long distances.
The Hydra Pro 6E made upwards much of the difference when it came to pushing a Wi-Fi indicate through walls and floors in my 100-year old dwelling house. With the exam notebook prepare up 20-feet and a wall away from the router, information technology yielded an even 1.000Gbps, less than the 1.137Gbps that the RAXE500 delivered only impressive, nonetheless.
While the Netgear RAXE500 pushed 851.0Mbps up a floor into a bedchamber from the host router, the Hydra Pro 6E fell backside at 620.1Mbps, a 37 percent arrears. Here, the Hydra Pro 6E was more than on a par with the Wi-Fi 6 crowd with the TP-Link Archer AX6000 (671.4Mbps) and the Netgear Nighthawk AX8 (629.5Mbps). With that in mind, it might exist better used in a long ranch firm than a more vertical townhouse.
Over a month of daily use, the router passed the breezy saturation examination where I sent and received email, moved files back and along with a RAID server while watching videos and playing online music and an Internet radio station on four unlike systems. Along the mode, the Hydra Pro 6E consumed ten.4 watts of power, about 1-third less than the Netgear RAXE500's 15.4 watts. The Hydra Pro 6E, however, lacks the Netgear'southward slumber manner to reduce ability consumption when it's idle. All told, the Hydra Pro 6E should cost an estimated $11.lxxx a year to apply if you pay the national average of xiii cents per kilowatt 60 minutes. That's slightly less than the Netgear RAXE500'due south $13.seventy but a lot compared to the Wi-Fi half-dozen-based Linksys Max Stream MR9600's $half dozen.fourscore.
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E review: Setup
To become started with the Linksys Hydra Pro 6E, I installed the Linksys iOS app on my iPad Pro. I could take used the Android app or a connected browser, although Linksys recommends the browser approach for experienced networkers.
I started by tapping on "Gear up New Wi-Fi Network" and so like-minded to plough on the tablet's Bluetooth radio. Next, I picked the type of gear I had, plugged the router in and connected it to my broadband router.
Equally it got going, the app showed router placement tips for best performance. After the Hydra Pro 6E connected to the Internet, the router's LED bar blinked majestic.
Next, I needed to create a Linskys account and allow the visitor to link the account and router. Then, I added the router's network name and countersign.
Later on I named where the router will alive, I was washed. The router continued on the first effort. It was easier than setting upwardly the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 and took all of 7 minutes to achieve.
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E review: Configuration
Similar many of its competitors, Linksys provides two ways to configure and customize its Hydra Pro 6E router: through the app or via a connected browser. The former is easy and visual while the latter provides several actress options.
To view the current prepare up and brand changes, I connected to the router, typed "LinskysSmartWiFi" into the accost window and then logged in. The router's dashboard page had a visual map of the Cyberspace, router and my continued device. At that place are also sections that show the router's 3 networks, which can exist individually named, too equally places to show how many devices are online as well as the Guest Network's status.
The router'south Wi-Fi Settings section is where I was able to change the network names and passwords for each of the Hydra Pro 6E's transmission bands. Along the summit are tabs for MAC filtering and Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) details. The Advanced tab offers a good amount of customization potential, with the ability to adapt the airtime fairness, customer steering and node steering.
I establish the Hydra 6E's Channel Finder to exist a big help in picking a fast lane for data. Located in the Advanced Wi-Fi Settings section, it scanned the Wi-Fi landscape and found the channels that were the least crowded and less prone to interference.
At the bottom is the place where you lot can take advantage of the router'south Quality of Service (QOS) settings to set priorities for the data period. By dragging upwardly to three devices, I was able to let them to become start dibs on the router'south data.
On the other paw, the Hydra Pro 6E lacks the flexibility to adjust the RTS Threshold but it's piece of cake to modify the Fragmentation Length, pick between the long or short Preamble and change the Maximum Manual Unit (MTU) to adjust the operating conditions.
The Hydra Pro 6E lacks the security enhancements of Netgear's Armor or TP-Link's HomeCare, but it does come with parental controls that can limit Internet access time and cake specific websites. It can also require the use of 2-cistron authentication.
Finally, Linksys includes a year of warranty protection and support. The back up pages include help with logging in, solving common Wi-Fi problems and some assistance with avant-garde configurations. By contrast, Netgear matches the warranty length but includes merely three months of support.
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E review: Verdict
The Linksys Hydra Pro 6E makes high functioning Wi-Fi 6E networking affordable with a mainstream router that pours out the ability upwards close. Information technology may not be the fastest router around or provide the greatest range, but the Hydra Pro 6E offers a quick setup, while delivering a significant speed upgrade over Wi-Fi 6 routers. Best all the same, the Channel Finder technology scans the surface area to brand the best apply of the available spectrum.
The Linksys Hydra Pro 6E costs $100 less than the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500, but falls short in most operation areas. It remains a less expensive way to accept advantage of the addition of 6GHz transmissions, pushing the Hydra Pro 6E into a new performance realm.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/linksys-hydra-pro-6e
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